Many trucks, truck trailers, cargo and/or freight containers, tankers and like vehicles typically have a walled enclosure which is provided with an opening in at least one wall thereof to allow loading and unloading of the vehicle or container. Conventionally, a door is hinged along one side for swinging movements into the plane of the wall for releasably closing the opening. A gasket seal is commonly arranged in combination with such door to inhibit moisture, dust, dirt, debris and related contaminating elements from passing between the door and the walled enclosure and entering through the opening when the door is closed.
To maintain the door in a closed position, a bar lock device or assembly is known to be provided between the door and the walled enclosure. Such a bar lock device is usually fabricated from several separate components or pieces which are typically welded together. For example, a conventional bar lock device includes an elongated body pivotally mounted to the walled enclosure of the vehicle and has pivotally mounted along the length thereof a locking handle. The locking handle is adapted to coact with a latch or lock on the door to hold the door in the closed position. The elongated body of such bar lock devices usually includes a piece of elongated round or flat stock having at least two hinge barrels, sometimes referred to as straps, welded thereto in axially spaced relation from each other. Coaxially arranged hinge butts, secured to the walled enclosure, are operably coupled to the elongated body. Typically, a pair of individual pins pivotally interconnect the hinge butts to the hinge barrels or straps on the elongated bar. Alternatively, a pair of hinge assemblies are used to pivotally attach the elongated body to the walled enclosure. Each such hinge assembly typically include two hinge pieces or elements secured to each other by a pivot pin. In this arrangement, one hinge piece or element is secured to the walled enclosure while the other hinge piece or element of the hinge assembly is secured to the elongated body of the bar lock mechanism.
A clevis-like mounting member is typically welded along the length of the elongated shaft or bar to allow the locking handle to be pivotally secured to the elongated body. As will be appreciated, and largely because of their different shapes and sizes, welding a single hinge butt to the walled enclosure will require different techniques than welding a hinge assembly to the walled enclosure which is still different than welding a clevis-like mounting member to an elongated shaft or bar. Moreover, and as will be discussed below, the orientations of the parts relative to each other also differ, thus, further complicating the assembly process.
To enhance the ability of the gasket to seal about the marginal edge of the door, a bar lock device is frequently designed to apply a compressive force against an outer surface of the door when the locking handle is arranged in operable combination with the latch to hold the door closed. When a separate locking handle bracket is welded to the elongated round or flat stock, tolerance variations coupled with inadvertent but inescapable human errors in repetitively locating the respective components in their respective fixtures leads to inconsistent angular orientations and differences between the respective parts. If the tolerance variations and accumulation of errors are extreme or excessive, the compressive force exerted by bar lock device on the door and, thus, on the gasket seal may be inadequate for the intended purpose. Accordingly, there may be leakage between the gasket and the walled enclosure which can lead to contaminants, i.e., moisture, dust, dirt and debris, entering the walled enclosure through the opening. Moreover, when the pressure exerted by the bar locking device against the door is inadequate, premature wear on the door, door hinges, gaskets and related components can result from excessive vibration between the door and walled enclosure. On the other hand, when excessive tolerance variations cause the door lock device to exert too much pressure against the door, the operator can have difficulty in securing the handle lock in locked relation with the lock on the door.
Thus, there is a need and continuing desire for an improved bar lock mechanism for holding a door in a closed position, which is strong, simple in construction, and economical to manufacture.